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Astroloma humifusum

Common name:	Cranberry Heath	Family:	Epacridaceae
Author:	(Cav.)R.Br.	Botanical references:	154, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.
Habitat:	Sandy loams in the mountain zone[154]. In heathland and open forests[193, 200]. Also found on cleared land in a range of soils including sandstone, shale and heavy clay[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	humifusum = prostrate
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ericales. Epacris family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 0.1m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw. A sweet viscid pulp[46, 144, 154, 157, 177]. The taste is somewhat like apples[193]. The fruit is a drupe about 7 - 11mm wide[193, 200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most well-drained soils[200]. Established plants are moderately drought tolerant[200].
This species is hardy to about -7° c in Australian gardens[157], but this cannot be translated directly to British gardens because of our cooler summers and longer, colder and wetter winters. Plants can survive frosts in Britain, particularly if the roots are well mulched, but they are best when grown in a cold greenhouse in this country[200].
The plants have a very fine root system which makes transplanting difficult[157].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed has a hard coat and some form of scarification is necessary or the seed can take up to 5 years to germinate. Two or three periods each of 4 - 6 weeks cold stratification can reduce the time taken to germinate[175]. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. When large enough, plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.
Cuttings of firm young tip growths[200]. It is very difficult to obtain suitable wood[157] and the cuttings are slow to root[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[144] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana 1976 ISBN 0-00-634436-4
A very good pocket guide.

[154] Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.

[157] Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. Australian Native Plants. Collins. (Australia) 1988 ISBN 0-7322-0021-0
A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.

[175] Bird. R. (Editor) Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') Thompson and Morgan. 1991
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Corydalis spp.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[193] Low. T. Wild Food Plants of Australia. Angus and Robertson. 1989 ISBN 0-207-14383-8
Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.